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Maryland casinos are pumping out billions for education.

…..So why are there school budget deficits?

In the seven years since the first of Maryland’s six casinos opened, they have pumped $1.7 billion into the state’s Education Trust Fund — the financial windfall that advocates for gambling promised would go to the state’s public schools.

But over that time, state funding for public schools has increased by less than half that amount — and some jurisdictions, including Baltimore, have suffered funding cuts.

That’s because the state officials who approved casino gambling in 2008 — Gov. Martin O’Malley and his Democratic allies in the General Assembly — didn’t require that school aid keep pace with the growth in gambling.

State budget analysts say the money from the casino-fueled Education Trust Fund is, in fact, going to schools. But that stream has allowed the governor and lawmakers to take money that once went to schools and redirect it to pay salaries, fund roadwork and support other government programs and services.

“While gambling was sold as a way to bring in more money for education, it really hasn’t been putting more money in schools,” said Benjamin Orr, director of the Maryland Center on Economic Policy. “We’ve essentially invested the same amount of money in our schools that we would have with or without legalized gambling.”

That’s most pronounced in Baltimore, where the Horseshoe Casino has generated more than $200 million for the Education Trust Fund since it opened in 2014.

Baltimore public schools have received less state money — not more — than they did before the casino opened. The system is dealing with a $129 million budget gap this year, and stands to lose $42 million in aid next year under the state budget proposed last week by Gov. Larry Hogan.

When the General Assembly was considering casino gambling in 2009, Del. Curt Anderson sponsored a bill that would have forced state officials to use the trust fund money to increase funding for education. It died in committee.

Anderson, a Baltimore Democrat who chairs the city’s House delegation, listened to the lobbyists and lawmakers who said gambling would benefit schools. He was always skeptical.

“I voted against the casinos because I feared all the promises they made would not be kept,” he said. “The money is going into the Education Trust Fund, but it’s being siphoned off on the other end.

“Even back in 2009, we knew they were going to do the Okey-Doke on us. We knew how the game was played.

“They promise a lot, they get the bill passed, and they never deliver on the promises.”

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, pushed to bring casino gambling to Maryland to generate more revenue for the state. But the Democratic-controlled General Assembly didn’t pass the measure until O’Malley, Ehrlich’s Democratic successor, championed the cause and backed the idea of letting the voters decide at the ballot box.

O’Malley promised that “hundreds of millions” of dollars from taxes on slot machines and other gambling would go to the state’s public schools. When pressed by critics, his administration acknowledged that the revenue wouldn’t necessarily go to additional funding for schools.

O’Malley promised that “hundreds of millions” of dollars from taxes on slot machines and other gambling would go to the state’s public schools. When pressed by critics, his administration acknowledged that the revenue wouldn’t necessarily go to additional funding for schools.

Alexandra Hughes, chief of staff to House Speaker Michael E. Busch, argued the casino money has given governors plenty of revenue to put in the budget for schools.

“Education funding is the top priority of the House — and has been the biggest sticking point with the governor over the past two years,” she said. “The legislature passed a revenue stream to keep pace with the annual increase in education funding.”

She said Hogan is sitting on a fund balance of more than $200 million, at least a portion of which he could allocate to schools.

School funding was a focal point of pro-gambling ads that ran in 2008, before the state’s voters approved five slots-only casinos, and again in 2012, before they approved expanding to table games and a new casino in Prince George’s County.

In one commercial, advocates said casinos would pump hundreds of millions of dollars “directly into our schools.”

A third threatened that schools would “lose hundreds of millions” in cash to other states if gambling was not expanded.

In fact, budget analysts say, school funding has been driven almost entirely by a state funding formula that awards aid to local districts based on their size and wealth. The law that authorized casino gambling did not require the state to spend more on education than it would have otherwise.

A spokesman for Hogan, a Republican, said the legislature created the school funding formula and the Education Trust Fund.

Spokesman Doug Mayer said Hogan will fund education to the highest level that’s possible without raising taxes or increasing the state’s debt.

He noted the governor has dedicated record funding for public schools in three consecutive budgets — including in next year’s proposal.

Still, the budget Hogan proposed this past week to close a $544 million deficit would cut state aid to Baltimore schools by $42 million.

Much of the cut was driven by the state formula, which sees rising wealth in Baltimore and declining student enrollment and concludes that city schools should get less money.

The formula has cost Baltimore money for the past three years. Hogan helped offset some of the loss last year with a $12.7 million payment. He has not proposed a similar boost this year.

Former Del. Heather Mizeur, a Democrat who opposed casino gambling when she was in the General Assembly, said it’s now “up to the legislature to try to fix the governor’s poor budget decisions.”

“Governor Hogan’s budget does exactly what I had feared most when I was working against the casino ballot initiative — it does a bait-and-switch on the public, breaking a promise that was made by the initiative’s supporters,” Mizeur said. “The new money that’s in the Maryland Education Trust Fund isn’t being used as supplemental revenue to boost education spending. Rather, it’s supplanting holes in the general budget.”

Hogan met with lawmakers from Baltimore recently, Mayer said, and offered to move more money to the city if they can find other areas in the budget to cut.

“We cannot spend money we don’t have,” Mayer said. He said lawmakers have the rest of the annual session, which ends April 10, to find ways to pay for what’s important to them.

“The governor is not going to raise taxes, and he’s not going to increase debt,” Mayer said.

Casinos contributed $50 million to the state’s Education Trust Fund in 2011, and $94 million the next year. But instead of increasing, state aid to schools decreased in 2012.

Proponents of casino gambling said the state was still struggling to recover from the recession. They say the casino money helped the state avoid what could have been even deeper cuts to schools.

By 2015, the casinos were generating more than $350 million for the Education Trust Fund. This year, they’re on pace to contribute more than $500 million.

The casinos are projected to have contributed more than $2 billion to the trust fund by the end of the fiscal year. Maryland Live casino in Anne Arundel County has itself already contributed more than $1 billion.

Still, nine school districts — in Baltimore City and in Carroll, Calvert, Garrett, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot and Worcester counties — are facing cuts in state aid this year.

State Comptroller Peter Franchot opposed casino gambling in Maryland.

“People ask me often around the state, ‘What happened to the casino money?'” he said. “And I don’t have a good answer for them. It just disappears into the general fund.”

He remembers proponents speaking about the benefits of “slots for tots.”

“It was a fiscal fairy tale from the start,” he said.

Casinos still are having a substantial impact on the state’s economy.

In addition to the $1.7 billion for the Education Trust Fund, casinos have generated $266 million for horse racing, $177 million for local community impact grants and $47 million for small and minority-owned businesses.

They also employ hundreds of Marylanders. Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, for instance, is one of the largest employers in the city.

“We’re very pleased with the performance of our casino partners,” said Gordon Medenica, director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. “The Education Trust Fund has grown every year. We expect the funding to the Education Trust Fund will continue to increase.”

Having generated $2.2 billion in revenue for the state, casinos are now some of the largest taxpayers in Maryland. But proponents note that they don’t decide where the proceeds go.

Bebe Verdery, director of the Education Reform Project of the ACLU of Maryland, said casino revenue should be doing more for education in the state.

“Maryland school funding falls over $1 billion short of what the education formula says students need,” she said. “Casino operators are receiving higher-than-expected, record profits.

“In this time of fiscal distress for Baltimore and other schools, why can’t part of the solution be casinos sharing more of their excess profits?”

Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Sonja Santelises said the school system is facing a $129 million deficit in next fiscal year’s budget, the largest gap in recent years. (Baltimore Sun)

Rushern Baker III (right), Dr. Kevin Maxwell (center) and Segun Eubanks (left) also pushed for casino gambling in Prince George’s County in which a school and other facilities were dished to gambling as this Blog protested. Now the truth is coming out finally.